Smprovement in corn-shellers



' A. STICKNEY.

Corn Sheller. Y

Patented Oct. 29,' 1861.

Y No. 33.627.

,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANCIL STICKNEY, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM H. HOVEY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-SHELLERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,6%?, dated October 29, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANCH. STICKNEY, of Concord-in the county of Merrimac and State ot' New Hampshire, haveinvented a new and useful Machine for Shelling Corn; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying` drawings, making a part ot' this specilication.

The object of and the qualities necessary to constitute a good corn-Sheller are so well known that any detailed preliminary explanation on that point is unnecessary, and I will therefore proceed directly to explain the construction and operation of the several parts combined in my invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of the machine, and Fig. 2 a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section through the line a l). Fig. 4 is a front View of the rotary tooth-plate, and Fig. 5 an inside face View of the pressure-plate.

Like lettersof reference indicate the same parts in each of the several gures.

A is a shell or casing very similar in form to a watch-case, supported by the legs B B.

C is an inclined box or trough attached to the front of the casingA and opening into it for receiving the ears of corn to be shelled.

D is a rotary disk or plate provided with teeth or projections d CZ d on its face and supported within the shell A by the bearings F., the shell being formed in two parts opening through the center in a plane perpendicular tothe axis-of the plateD. The front of the box or trough C is closed by the movable pressure-plate F, which is heldin place by the spiral spring Gr and nuts and screws H H and I I. Rotary motion is imparted to the plate D through the gear K and pinion L by means of thehandle c'. The back of the casing A is openthe plate D serving to close the opening sufficiently and thereby save unnecessary weight of metal. The rotary plate D isprovided with a heavy rim e, which serves as a y-wheel, thereby simplifying the construction of the machine.

The principle upon which this machine operates will be clearly seen by reference to Fig. 4, in which the dotted lines f g and 71, i represent the top and bottom of the box or trough C, thus inclosing between them the amount of the surface ot' the plate D which is presented to the opening of the box C at one time. Now as an ear of corn is put into the top end K of the box the rotary plate, having a motion in the direction indicated by the arrow, takes the corn up against the top of the box C, and the teeth operating only on one side of the ear a rotary motion is imparted to it. Now it will be seen that the direction of the motion of the teeth d. d d included between the lines f g and hi is oblique to the sides of the box C, so that as the ear is caught by the teeth CZ d d when irst introduced it is taken up against the top side of the box, and also, as one tooth after another cornes in contact with it, gradually carried toward the center of the rotary plate D. As soon as the ear has arrived at the center of the plate the motion of the teeth is downward, and therefore the corn is carried down against the bottom of the box and is turned in an opposite direction from which it turned before; but the whole of the box C being ou one side of the center of the plate D the motion of the teeth is such as to carry the corn forward all the time, and as the ear first turns in one direction and then in the other the complete clearing of the cob is insured in almost every instance.

Now it is a very important feature in this machine that by the peculiar position of the box C in relation to the rotary disk D, the disk operates upon the corn entirely across its whole surface, the cob going iu at one end of the trough and being carried out at the other in one straight line, which could not be done if the trough,were not all on one side of the center of the rotary toothed disk.v The advantages of this are great in practice, as the ears can be put in either tip Iirst or butt first and as many at a time as the trough will take without any danger of clogging the machine or doing the work less thoroughly, thereby rendering it almost a self-feedin g ma chine.

In Fig. 3 the form of the bottom of the box C is seen, K being the end where the corn is inserted. As the corn does not come in con tact with the bottom of the box on the rst half of its length, it is cut away at Z to allow the kernels of corn to fall down past the teeth d d (l freely into the casing and out at the bottom at M, but beyond the center of the plate l.) the bottom ot the box is extended in the forni ot' lingers 0 o o between the rows of teeth, so as to prevent any small cobs from being carried in and thereby clogging the machine.. The top of the box is constructed on the same principle, the ends being reversed. Now, although the motion of the teeth would carry the ear or cob through the box, it has been found by practical test that more time would be occupied than is actually necessary to clean the cob. I therefore form ridges m m m on the inside of thepressure-plate F, so arranged as to operate like the thread of a female screw as the ear of corn is revolved Within the box and in contact with them.

But these ridges must be so arranged as to operate like a right and left screw, for the corn revolves in two opposite directions dui'-,

ing its passage, and yet it is necessary that its lateral motion be in the same direction all the time. Now the 'greater part of the corn as it is detached from the cob immediately falls into the shell and passes out at M; but as some would scatter out at the bottom end of: the box C if it were open I obviato that diiiculty by closing the mouth with a brush p, of bristles or othersuitable substance, so that any kernels Which are thrown against it fall down and pass out with the rest, and yet when a cob is presented it passes through, the space around it bei g nearly closed by the brush.

Having fully described the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. The combination of the box or trough C and pressure-plate F With the shell A and rotary toothed disk D, when the several parts are constructed and arranged as and for the purposes specified.

2. The arrangement of the ridges m m m on the interior surface of the pressure-plate F, whereby they operate as a right and left screw, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

ANCIL STIOKNEY.

Witnesses:

FRANK I. ROBINSON, W. E. GREENE. 

